I felt we should let our customers know about a technological challenge we are experiencing with our fundraising software at the Council Service Center. The National BSA headquarters installed a new fundraising platform titled Blackbaud CRM. This is part of the complete overhaul of the BSA technology platform that was in the critical stage of an upgrade. As it is designed, every local Council in America is tied into this system and as you might imagine, has had some glitches that need to be resolved. Green Mountain Council is currently in the middle of one of those glitches. Specifically, as it relates to our own fundraising platform that is Friends of Scouting. The glitches are in two critical areas:

Billing statements: Many of our friends have made financial pledges to the Scouting program that are designed to be paid over a period of months. We have not been able to send out billing reminders on these payment dates since the end of July. If you know of a pledge you have made but not paid in full, we ask that you send one or more of the payments due to the Council Service Center at your earliest convenience. This would help immensely since we are unsure of an exact date or time that this “glitch” will be fixed and receiving the payments on pledges if very much needed for our financial stability as an organization.

Year end donor letters – As part of the fundraising schedule, this is the time of the year a donation request letter goes out to all our current “Friends of Scouting” It is a Thanksgiving letter asking donors if they would like to make an additional donation to Scouting before the end of the year, and/or if they would like to make their 2018 gift in 2017. Both are designed for tax savings windows. The response has traditionally been very good and we don’t want to our donors to miss our or forget about this opportunity. This letter has not been prepared yet due to the “glitch”, which has prevented our staff from developing a mailing list and updating our records on who has pledged and if the payment on pledge is complete.

If you are reading this and can help in any way, it would be greatly appreciated. This year of Scouting has been good so far in the form of great summer camps, a good popcorn sale and some wonderful stories about local Packs and troops experiencing the fun and adventure Scouting has to offer our youth. Finally, we recently had a volunteer contact our office and informed me that he was donating shares of stock to the Green Mountain Council because it was paying dividends that he did not want to claim as income, again for tax purposes. With the way the stock market has exploded this year, this may be an option you may want to consider if you and your family are in a position to help. It is a win-win, which is my favorite way of resolving issues in general. If you need more information on this process, please feel free to contact me via email at edward.mccollin@scouting.org or by calling the Council Service Center at 802-244-5189. Sincerely,Ed McCollinScout Executive/CEOI felt we should let our customers know about a technological challenge we are experiencing with our fundraising software at the Council Service Center. The National BSA headquarters installed a new fundraising platform titled Blackbaud CRM. This is part of the complete overhaul of the BSA technology platform that was in the critical stage of an upgrade. As it is designed, every local Council in America is tied into this system and as you might imagine, has had some glitches that need to be resolved. Green Mountain Council is currently in the middle of one of those glitches. Specifically, as it relates to our own fundraising platform that is Friends of Scouting. The glitches are in two critical areas:

Billing statements: Many of our friends have made financial pledges to the Scouting program that are designed to be paid over a period of months. We have not been able to send out billing reminders on these payment dates since the end of July. If you know of a pledge you have made but not paid in full, we ask that you send one or more of the payments due to the Council Service Center at your earliest convenience. This would help immensely since we are unsure of an exact date or time that this “glitch” will be fixed and receiving the payments on pledges if very much needed for our financial stability as an organization.

Year end donor letters – As part of the fundraising schedule, this is the time of the year a donation request letter goes out to all our current “Friends of Scouting” It is a Thanksgiving letter asking donors if they would like to make an additional donation to Scouting before the end of the year, and/or if they would like to make their 2018 gift in 2017. Both are designed for tax savings windows. The response has traditionally been very good and we don’t want to our donors to miss our or forget about this opportunity. This letter has not been prepared yet due to the “glitch”, which has prevented our staff from developing a mailing list and updating our records on who has pledged and if the payment on pledge is complete.

If you are reading this and can help in any way, it would be greatly appreciated. This year of Scouting has been good so far in the form of great summer camps, a good popcorn sale and some wonderful stories about local Packs and troops experiencing the fun and adventure Scouting has to offer our youth. Finally, we recently had a volunteer contact our office and informed me that he was donating shares of stock to the Green Mountain Council because it was paying dividends that he did not want to claim as income, again for tax purposes. With the way the stock market has exploded this year, this may be an option you may want to consider if you and your family are in a position to help. It is a win-win, which is my favorite way of resolving issues in general. If you need more information on this process, please feel free to contact me via email at edward.mccollin@scouting.org or by calling the Council Service Center at 802-244-5189. Sincerely,Ed McCollinScout Executive/CEOI felt we should let our customers know about a technological challenge we are experiencing with our fundraising software at the Council Service Center. The National BSA headquarters installed a new fundraising platform titled Blackbaud CRM. This is part of the complete overhaul of the BSA technology platform that was in the critical stage of an upgrade. As it is designed, every local Council in America is tied into this system and as you might imagine, has had some glitches that need to be resolved. Green Mountain Council is currently in the middle of one of those glitches. Specifically, as it relates to our own fundraising platform that is Friends of Scouting. The glitches are in two critical areas:

Billing statements: Many of our friends have made financial pledges to the Scouting program that are designed to be paid over a period of months. We have not been able to send out billing reminders on these payment dates since the end of July. If you know of a pledge you have made but not paid in full, we ask that you send one or more of the payments due to the Council Service Center at your earliest convenience. This would help immensely since we are unsure of an exact date or time that this “glitch” will be fixed and receiving the payments on pledges if very much needed for our financial stability as an organization.

Year end donor letters – As part of the fundraising schedule, this is the time of the year a donation request letter goes out to all our current “Friends of Scouting” It is a Thanksgiving letter asking donors if they would like to make an additional donation to Scouting before the end of the year, and/or if they would like to make their 2018 gift in 2017. Both are designed for tax savings windows. The response has traditionally been very good and we don’t want to our donors to miss our or forget about this opportunity. This letter has not been prepared yet due to the “glitch”, which has prevented our staff from developing a mailing list and updating our records on who has pledged and if the payment on pledge is complete.

If you are reading this and can help in any way, it would be greatly appreciated. This year of Scouting has been good so far in the form of great summer camps, a good popcorn sale and some wonderful stories about local Packs and troops experiencing the fun and adventure Scouting has to offer our youth. Finally, we recently had a volunteer contact our office and informed me that he was donating shares of stock to the Green Mountain Council because it was paying dividends that he did not want to claim as income, again for tax purposes. With the way the stock market has exploded this year, this may be an option you may want to consider if you and your family are in a position to help. It is a win-win, which is my favorite way of resolving issues in general. If you need more information on this process, please feel free to contact me via email at edward.mccollin@scouting.org or by calling the Council Service Center at 802-244-5189. Sincerely,Ed McCollinScout Executive/CEOI felt we should let our customers know about a technological challenge we are experiencing with our fundraising software at the Council Service Center. The National BSA headquarters installed a new fundraising platform titled Blackbaud CRM. This is part of the complete overhaul of the BSA technology platform that was in the critical stage of an upgrade. As it is designed, every local Council in America is tied into this system and as you might imagine, has had some glitches that need to be resolved. Green Mountain Council is currently in the middle of one of those glitches. Specifically, as it relates to our own fundraising platform that is Friends of Scouting. The glitches are in two critical areas:

Billing statements: Many of our friends have made financial pledges to the Scouting program that are designed to be paid over a period of months. We have not been able to send out billing reminders on these payment dates since the end of July. If you know of a pledge you have made but not paid in full, we ask that you send one or more of the payments due to the Council Service Center at your earliest convenience. This would help immensely since we are unsure of an exact date or time that this “glitch” will be fixed and receiving the payments on pledges if very much needed for our financial stability as an organization.

Year end donor letters – As part of the fundraising schedule, this is the time of the year a donation request letter goes out to all our current “Friends of Scouting” It is a Thanksgiving letter asking donors if they would like to make an additional donation to Scouting before the end of the year, and/or if they would like to make their 2018 gift in 2017. Both are designed for tax savings windows. The response has traditionally been very good and we don’t want to our donors to miss our or forget about this opportunity. This letter has not been prepared yet due to the “glitch”, which has prevented our staff from developing a mailing list and updating our records on who has pledged and if the payment on pledge is complete.

If you are reading this and can help in any way, it would be greatly appreciated. This year of Scouting has been good so far in the form of great summer camps, a good popcorn sale and some wonderful stories about local Packs and troops experiencing the fun and adventure Scouting has to offer our youth. Finally, we recently had a volunteer contact our office and informed me that he was donating shares of stock to the Green Mountain Council because it was paying dividends that he did not want to claim as income, again for tax purposes. With the way the stock market has exploded this year, this may be an option you may want to consider if you and your family are in a position to help. It is a win-win, which is my favorite way of resolving issues in general. If you need more information on this process, please feel free to contact me via email at edward.mccollin@scouting.org or by calling the Council Service Center at 802-244-5189. Sincerely,Ed McCollinScout Executive/CEO